Ancient Fire is the name of my brand of homemade wines, meads, ciders & beers. Under that name I also write articles on my projects, wines from around the world, food & pairing, the wine business, wineries, travel and all things I enjoy in this life. -- Jason

Friday, April 15, 2011

Making the Original Southern Comfort

The history of liquor is fascinating. I heard the legend of where Southern Comfort came from and it turned out to be an old time infusion by a tavern owner. Something you could so very much do at home! The story, including exactly from where I heard the legend, can be found in the history section of the Wikipedia entry on Southern Comfort.

I first tried it within a week of seeing a TV show about it in 2010 and it came out mighty fine. It took about 3-4 weeks total and it sipped great on the rocks for the short time it lasted.

Since then I have infused a bunch of other flavors in vodka and infused the itch to try it for herself into our friend Amy. She came back with a tray of different flavors for us to try. Nearly two dozen in all! This year is cooking up some kind of madness with gin and the party to celebrate it all is in June.

As a gift to thank her for all of the good drinks I created from her last share, I decided to make her a quart of homemade Ancient Fire Bourbon Comfort. And I couldn’t overlook sharing this recipe with you all, it is just too good!

Remove 3-4 ounces of the bourbon from the bottle. Add everything but the simple syrup. Top off with the reserved bourbon as needed. Drink the rest! Recap the bottle.

Shake the bottle once per day for 2-3 weeks. Flavors and aromas will develop and you should test it to see if you like the flavors along the way. When you do, use a sieve to filter out the solids. Combine the bourbon with sugar syrup, mixing well, to taste. Store in mason jars, wine bottles, etc in a cool dry place. Serve on the rocks.

Cheers!

Jason

p.s. I apologize for the picture. I made the limoncello and the comfort on the same night and the pictures came during the drinking phase. How delightfully trashy. That’s all for you Janis!